Congress May Punt Vote on Updated Funding for Housing Programs Until December

On Sept. 17, the Senate voted 93-7 to pass a massive $854 billion spending bill (HR 6157), which includes FY19 budget bills for the departments of Defense, Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor and Education, but new funding bills for agencies like the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Agriculture may very well be stuck at current levels through Dec. 7 via a stopgap funding measure.

House and Senate appropriators are still working through last-minute negotiations towards a spending package that would authorize an FY19 budget for four appropriations bills, including Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) and Agriculture bills. Unfortunately, that effort appears mired in controversial proposed policy riders the cast doubt on whether or not there can be agreement ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline. If they cannot arrive at an agreement before this deadline, legislators would have to pass a stopgap funding measure and continue working towards approval of FY19 budgets before Dec. 7.

In the meantime, Prosperity Indiana continues to push for the highest possible allocation for the housing titles of these budget bills as well as the inclusion of the Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration program.

House and Senate FY19 HUD bills included increased compared to FY18 which is promising news as FY18 represented a nearly 10 percent increase compared to FY17 following nearly a decade of deep cuts in the aftermath of the recession and Budget Control Act. For more detailed coverage on those bills, please visit our earlier blog and links here: https://www.prosperityindiana.org/Policy-News/6574990